Driver monitoring to improve safety at local council

Council commercial vehicles at Adur and Worthing to have equipment installed to monitor driver behaviour in order to improve safety and reduce bills.

GreenRoad Technologies has announced that Adur and Worthing Council Services is conducting a pilot with GreenRoad Safety Centre in its two fleets of refuse and recycling vehicles and Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs).

The initiative aims to improve the two councils' road safety records and reduce their carbon footprintâ€”all while saving money through reduced insurance claims and reduced fuel consumption.

"Safety is our primary consideration. If one of our refuse or recycling vehicles is driven badly, we are concerned about the welfare of the driver, passengers or other individuals," said Chris Cook, risk manager at Worthing Borough Council. "There is also a financial impact as the vehicle is likely to be off the road for some time for specialist repairs and the council has to self-fund all third party claims up to £5000. Naturally, our insurance partner is also keeping a close eye on developments and the potential impact on premiums.

"GreenRoad Safety Centre is the first Risk Management tool we have found that can provide ongoing assessment and continue to reinforce the need for safer driving every second behind the wheel," he continued.

GreenRoad Safety Centre rates driving skills without invading the driver's privacy or tracking individual location. An in-vehicle sensor collects information about 120 different driving manoeuvres. These are constantly analysed to give the driver feedback about their driving and the areas that need improvement. Individual drivers have instant feedback from the red, amber and green LEDs on the dashboard. The driver and the fleet manager have access to more detailed analysis of safety and recommendations through a password protected web site.

GreenRoad clients have reduced accidents by an average of 54 percent and lowered accident costs by an average of 65 percent. By empowering drivers to manage their own safety, and understand how to drive more responsibly, GreenRoad improves driver safety behind the wheel.

According to Ken Green, executive head of recycling and waste management at Adur Council, "My primary motivation for talking to GreenRoad was to reduce our fuel consumption and carbon footprint. But as we examined Safety Center's benefits we realised that it would help us improve fleet driving skills. Through our duty of care commitments we already have programmes in place to improve driving, but with Safety Centre we will actually establish whether council drivers are complying with good practice."